


darling, so it goes

by j_gabrielle



Category: Aquaman (2018)
Genre: Berserker Arthur, Established Relationship, Incest, M/M, Mates, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-05 12:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17324696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_gabrielle/pseuds/j_gabrielle
Summary: Like this, when it is just them, Orm allows himself to believe that this could be love.





	darling, so it goes

Orm watches the dust motes in the sunshine, listening to the rustling of the curtains in the breeze. He lifts a hand. Letting the light warm his palm while he lies as still as he can be on the bed. Everything feels different here up on the surface; it's like he has to relearn how to move, to breathe, to feel the weight of the air on his skin. Orm feels the differences acutely and he can't quite decide just yet whether they are good or bad.

He shifts, and it sends a frisson of discomfort down his waist. He must have made a sound because he feels Arthur's eyes on him the moment it comes out of him. 

Orm sits up, pulling the sheets over his bruised hips, ignoring the scratches and bite marks that make up the road map of the last 24 hours. "I'm fine. Stop looking at me like that."

Arthur grits his jaw, turning his face away. Guilt, Orm realises, and the idea that someone would feel even a mite of guilt for hurting him warms him in a sweet, strange way. Something in him itches to reach out to his King and brother, and now, mate, but he shoves that desire back into the darkest recesses of his mind.

This isn't about him. This is about Arthur.

He had heard Arthur's war cry and the commotion that ensues from across the palace. Vulko had personally come to get him from the room they'd designated his prison, and the moment he lays his eyes on Arthur; rage filled golden eyes, lips pulled back in a mindless snarl, power pulsating off him in waves that has Orm itching for his trident. They have him in manacles and chains. Not unlike the first time he had been in Atlantis.

"How long?" Orm asks. The sound of his voice draws Arthur's attention to him, and he surges for him. Held back only by the strongest men of the Royal Guards.

"We think it might be the trident. A trigger for an ancient instinct we'd thought we long since evolved out of." His old Vizier says, one hand tugging him back.

"Vulko."

"I tried to counsel him in getting... A mate." Vulko fidgets. "Mera, perhaps. But he said she didn't feel right. He devolved sometime this morning and it took ten men to keep him down." He pauses, before he continues. "He kept trying to get to you." 

Orm can tell the unasked question threaded into the syllables of Vulko's words, and he schools his face into a careful mask of worry and calm. No sense in revealing to all who have gathered that Arthur is a regular presence in his bed, nor that he had more than eagerly allowed himself be kissed, be loved, be worshipped to an inch of his sanity. But the thought that Arthur is still reaching out for him, even when all sense and reason have been stripped from him, steals his breath away.

"We need to get him to the surface." Orm says, making to swim closer, only to have Vulko pull him back.

"We have tried." Vulko tries to tug him into a retreat only to have Orm stand fast, staring him down. "You can't be serious. _You_ are willing to take him there?"

The distrust stings. "I'm not the one hurting him now." He seethes, "Look at him, Vulko. He's not Arthur right now. He's a Berserker, you know he is. He needs to calm down soon or we won't be able to save even a part of him." 

Turning to face his old mentor, he allows his panic to seep through. "Let me help him."

In the here and now, Arthur lies next to him with his eyes closed. "How long do we have to stay here?" 

Orm gives into his earlier desire to touch, and strokes his cheek. "For as long as it takes."

"Did I hurt you?" He eventually says, curling a warm hand against Orm's hip.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. How's the blood rage?"

"Quiet." Arthur hums, inhaling. "Does this mean we...?"

"Are mated. Yes. Does this bother you?"

"Not as much as it should." Arthur confesses.

Orm smiles, tilting his head to kiss Arthur. It's sweet. Like this, when it is just them, Orm allows himself to believe that this could be love.

"Well, if you're planning on breeding me, I would hope that you wouldn't."

"Do you want me to? Breed you?" He turns, catching the hope casted his way. Carding his fingers through long salt stiffened locks, he tucks a stray strand behind an ear. The Berserker will demand a brood before his thirst can be quenched, and Orm... Orm can see it; their children a perfect amalgam of themselves, him supporting Arthur as mate and husband. 

Shifting his body to allow Arthur between his thighs again, he casually flicks the covers to the floor, uncaring of where it lands. He basks in the appreciative, slow drag of Arthur's eyes feasting on his naked form. To be desired like this is a heady intoxication, but to be desired by Arthur is a drug made just for him.

"Why don't you kiss me and find out?" Orm whispers. Arthur looks up, and in the morning light, his eyes alluringly like molten gold. He traces a finger over his brow bone, then down his cheek. 

Arthur slides his hand over Orm's. Squeezing once, before rising to push Orm onto his back. "I'm going to kiss you now." He says.

"I was hoping you would." Orm smiles, arching up to meet him.

**Author's Note:**

> I have never, will never, allow any reposting or translations of my works without my permission. All of my works will and shall only be hosted on my personal accounts on AO3 (j_gabrielle), Dreamwidth (j_gabrielle) and Tumblr (randomingoftherandomness, hardheartshere).
> 
> For those who say that I never said anything, it is clearly stated on my AO3 profile bio.
> 
> I do not have a Twitter account.
> 
> I do not have a Wattpad account.
> 
> **Please Do Not Repost My Fics**


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